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IAF's Vice Chief Designate Visits AF Station Chandigarh

Air Marshal NAK Browne Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command arrived at Air Force Station Chandigarh today. They were received by Air Commodore and Mrs. Rajeev Sachdeva, Air Officer Commanding Air Force Station Chandigarh.

Air Marshal Browne is on a two day visit to the station where he would be presiding over the Annual Aerospace Safety Council Meet of Western Air Command on 11 Nov 10, which would see the Air Officers Commanding (AOC) and Station Commanders of all the bases under Western Air Command carry out an annual data based review towards enhancing the flight safety of the bases in terms of adoption of measures to reduce incidents / accidents related to flying in challenging conditions of weather, terrain and bird activity.

The day saw the Air Marshal paying tribute at the Station War Memorial after being presented with a Guard of Honour on arrival. He also reviewed the operational and training preparedness of various units based at Station and interacted with the station personnel.

Govt Approves Top IAF Appointments

The top brass of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will see a major re-shuffle in the next couple of months. The Government has approved the present Air Officer Commanding in Chief (AOC-in-C) of the Delhi-based Western Air Command (WAC), Air Marshal NAK Browne for the appointment of the Vice Chief of Air Staff, as the incumbent Air Marshal P K Barbora retires on December 31, 2010.

Air Marshal Browne is also in line for the post of the Chief of Air Staff, after Air Chief Marshal P V Naik retires in July 2011.

It may be noted that the former Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the IAF's Gwalior air base, Air Commodore S Nilakantan, who had missed his next rank after being approved for it and was moved out of Gwalior, after being found blameworthy for the near-hit that took place in November 2009, during the visit of the President of India, has been empaneled for the next rank of an Air Vice Marshal. The matter was with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Air Commodore Nilakantan is presently posted at the IAF's Chandigarh-based Chandimandir Advanced Base, after he was moved out of Gwalior. Sources said that since the officer received a letter of displeasure, he might miss out on his seniority.

The new AOC-in-C of the Western Air Command will be Air Marshal D C Kumaria, presently commanding the Gandhinagar-based South Western Air Command (SWAC), while Air Officer in-charge of air operations at Vayu Bhawan, Air Marshal A K Gogoi will take over AOC-in-C SWAC.

Air Marshal K J Mathews, the current Air Officer Personnel (AOP) has been approved as the Commander in Chief of the Delhi-based tri-services Strategic Forces Command (SFC), and will replace the Army's Lieutenant General B S Nagal, as it is a rotation appointment among the three services. The new AOP will be the present Southern Air Command Chief Air Marshal Anil Chopra.

India, Poland Embark On Military Diplomacy

Army Chief General V K Singh and Polish Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Zbig Niew Glowienka today met here, on the latter's first Indian visit with an aim to strengthen and further defence ties between both nations and take the existing military diplomacy at a new level. Glowienka took over as the Polish Chief of General Staff after the untimely death of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military leadership during their visit to Russia in April 2010 when the Russian-made Tupolev crashed. In the accident the then Polish Army chief of staff, General Franciszek Gagor, also died.

Lt Gen Glowienka will also meet the Naval and Air Chiefs during his four-day stay in Delhi, from November 22-25, 2010.

India and Poland had discussed increasing their defence ties during the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Indian visit in September 6-7, 2010.

The first MoU on defence cooperation between New Delhi and Warsaw was signed in February 2003, and both nations have been deliberating on the technology transfer of tank recovery vehicles for the Indian Army. Poland has offered upgradation of India's Russian equipment, which includes armoured vehicles like BMP-II ICV and T-72 tanks and has also shown interest in India's air defence capability.

Meanwhile the British Secretary of State for Defence, Liam Fox, is on a two-day visit to India from November 22-23, 2010, during which he will visit the EADS (European Aerospace and Defence Systems) facility in Delhi. Secretary Fox will meet Defence Minister A K Antony for strengthening ties between both nations in the defence sector. Fox will also meet National Security Advisor and other union ministers. It may be noted that Eurofighter Typhoon manufactured by EADS is competing in India with five other contenders for an Indian Air Force (IAF) deal for 126 fighter jets.

The last visit by a UK Defence Secretary was in 2005 and this year in July Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and British PM David Cameron, in their joint statement, welcomed the Indo-UK defence cooperation.

Agni-1 successful test-firing by SFC

The medium Range missile AGNI-1(A1) was successfully test fired from Launch Complex – IV (LC-IV), Wheelers Island off the coast of Bay of Bengal today. The launch took place at 10:20 hrs and the missile followed the trajectory in a copy book style and reached the designated target in Bay of Bengal. Radars, telemetry and electro-optical systems along the coast tracked and monitored all the health parameters. Ships located near the target area witnessed the terminal event.

The launch of the A1 missile was carried out by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) as part of the user exercise. The launch operations were overseen by Shri J Chattopadhyay, the Project Director and DRDO Scientists. The Launch was witnessed by Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri Dr VK Saraswat, Programme Director Shri Avinash Chander, Director ITR, Dash and other top DRDO Scientists. SA to RM Dr Saraswat congratulated all the DRDO Scientists and Armed Forces for the successful flight of A1.

India's medium range missile AGNI-1(A1) was successfully launched from Launch Complex – IV (LC-IV), Wheelers Island off the coast of Bay of Bengal today. The launch took place at 10:20 this morning. According to DRDO, the missile followed the trajectory perfectly and hit its designated target in the Bay of Bengal. Ships located near the target area witnessed the terminal event and recorded it successfully. Today's launch of the A1 missile was carried out by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) as part of ongoing user exercises.

Good times ahead

India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has adapted a new philosophy for its missile programs, with the objective of combating time and cost overruns. The “Model Change” is expected to reduce cycle time from 15 years to around 6-7 years.
Avinash Chander, the director of DRDO’s Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), told Aviation Week in Hyderabad that the new emphasis is the result of a collective reassessment conducted by top missile scientists and engineers.
“Today the industrial base associated with India’s missile programs have grown and they are showing immense confidence to support more complex technologies,” Chander said. “We also felt the need to move away from the conventional sequential development plan to a concurrent mode.”
The shift is expected to have a positive effect on India’s Agni-5 and Agni-II Plus missile programs. With 80% of India’s Agni missile program currently supported by various industries, DRDO now hopes to leverage increased risk-taking and risk-sharing.

Kaveri undergoes more flight trials in Russia

India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s Gromov Flight Research Institute (GFRI) have conducted more flight trials of India’s Kaveri engine on a modified Flying Test Bed (FTB) IL-76 transport aircraft.
Mohan Rao, director of the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) in Bangalore, told Aviation Week that flight data analysis from the first flight on Nov. 3 was submitted to GFRI officials, who presented a detailed report to Russia’s Ministry of Industries.
“Based on this report, we got the clearances for further flights. We had the second flight after a week for more than an hour in very similar conditions to the first flight,” Mohan said. “The engine was inspected again and all flight parameters were analyzed. During the second flight, we went up to 5 km. at 0.6 Mach and 4 km. at 0.4 Mach. We need to study the engine data and combustion stability.”

As per Source , IAF which has recently submitted another report on MMRCA aircraft’s it has evaluated and has shown some reservation in operating American jets , Idrw.org could not confirm what was report about but it seems, like it was general feedback asked by MOD from the user IAF on its opinion.

Currently Two American jet makers , Boeing’s F-18 SH and Lockheed Martins F-16 IN are in the lucrative IAf’s MMRCA contract race to supply 126 fighter jets , While many defence experts in past have given F-16IN very slim chance of winning ,since India’s rival air force has been operating them close to three decades now .

Defence expert Rakesh Sharma Believes that MMRCA aircraft which ever is selected with be based near Indo-China border and share the base with IAF’s front line Sukhoi Su 30 MKI and in future with FGFA or AMCA , and since Americans are not keen in proving Deep TOT for AESA Radar which will come with the jets means that American air force and Vendor engineers in this base will be a common sight could be one of the possible reason about IAF’s Reservation , he also added that IAF Fears that American jets might be bugged to keep check on their operational status .

Serving IAF officer based in Agra had reported to idrw.org that IAF fears American may finally deliver Heavily downgraded Aircraft since India refused to sign “CISMOA” agreement with US , IAF is already in process of receiving 6 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft’s which according to him are heavily downgraded aircraft’s and IAF is already in process of getting permission from OEM that is Lockheed Martin to put Indian and European communication Systems in the Aircraft ,even if the permission is granted whole upgrade will take place with close observation from Lockheed Martin officials which will then report to Vendor and US Government .

India Navy which has ordered P8I will be delivered without crucial electronics and down-rated avionics suite if India Fails to sign the CISMOA, Americans are already working to develop a downgraded Radar for the same aircraft .

US law mandates that certain sensitive American electronics can only be transferred abroad after the recipient country signs the CISMOA and/or the BECA.

If India refuses to sign CISMOA , it will mean American Jets will not be even close to aircraft’s they had fielded in trials and will not be Hi-tech in terms of technology .

India has made huge inroads in developing electro-hydraulic servo valves (EHSVs), a critical component in space, aircraft and weapon platforms. Today, the Centre for Aerospace Products (CAP), Hyderabad, is probably the a critical facility that supports India’s ambitious aerospace programs. Not often discussed in detail due to its sensitive nature, India’s Defense Research and Development Oragnization (DRDO) achieved this breakthrough following the technology sanctions imposed on Indian in the late 1990s. DRDO initially invested Rs 40 crore (US$8 million) for this project.
CAP sources tell Aviation Week that India has now become completely self-reliant in producing EHSVs in huge numbers. “The EHSV facility is probably the only DRDO production facility in India for high-precision aerospace products. DRDO had to get on with establishing this limited production facility, due to the non-availability of high-precision installations and investment among private industries,” one CAP source says.